


Now they know

by Clarebella



Category: Code Black (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-16
Updated: 2016-02-16
Packaged: 2018-05-21 01:11:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6032658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clarebella/pseuds/Clarebella
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Where Christa gets hurt and Neal is worried.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Now they know

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place sometime in the near future of the show timeline – maybe a month or so? I’m not going to try to write too much medical jargon – so forgive me glossing over the medical stuff!! This is not beta-ed, so all mistakes are mine. My longest one yet!!
> 
> prompt credit to @iwillstayalive!
> 
> disclaimer - obviously I don't own any rights or anything to Code Black- purely for fun!

The doors to the ER opened, and the paramedics rolled the gurney in, calling out “Female, 35, MVA, unconscious, BP, pulse good, no obvious trauma – she’s one of yours.” Mike Leighton was standing by the nurses station, and looked up quickly at that statement –“Leanne!” he called out as he rushed over and saw Christa laying on the gurney.

“What happened?” Mike asked, as Leanne hurried over, followed by Grace and Jesse. The paramedics filled them in. “Far as we know, a guy blew through a red light and t-boned another car that then careened into the doc’s car.  The Doc was fine on scene, she was out stabilizing the driver of the car that was hit when we arrived.  She stood up, and then all of the sudden she passed out. Her vitals are good, but she hasn’t regained consciousness.  Other guy is in the next rig coming behind us”

“Let’s bring her to center stage!” Leanne called out. “Jesse, can you call up to the OR?” Jesse nodded in understanding, and hurried over to the phone. “Dr. Guthrie! “ She shouted, “MVA incoming!”

“Why are you calling the OR already?” Grace questioned, “I don’t see anything that indicates surgery at this time.” Leanne and Mike shared a quick look, but Leanne was saved from answering when Angus came in. ‘Christa! Is she all right? What happened?” he looked to his brother, who was doing a head to toe check. “MVA, I think she’ll be fine, but we need to get a head CT, she hasn’t regained consciousness yet.  Let’s get the ultrasound, check for internal bleeding.”

Leanne looked to Grace, “Dr. Adams, I think we have this under control, can you check on my patients in sides for me?”

“Of course,” Grace nodded to Leanne with a smile, a little confused, but understanding that Daddy wanted to take care of her residents. She left, passing Jesse as he came back, met Leanne’s eyes and gave a quick nod ‘no’. Mike looked up,” vitals stable, ultrasound is clear, no blood or fluid, let’s get her up to CT, Angus, you’re with me.”  Mike and Angus took the gurney and headed to radiology.  Mario and Malaya came rushing in with Dr. Guthrie and the other accident victim. “What’s going on?” Mario questioned when he looked over and saw Christa being wheeled by on a gurney “What Happened?” he looked around wildly, Malaya stood beside him looking shocked.  

Leanne answered them calmly but quickly, “She was in a car accident, and hasn’t regained consciousness. Everything else looks good, so we have every reason to believe she will be okay, Angus and Mike are taking her for a CT. Go help your patient, we’ll let you know when she is back.”

 Jesse and Leanne walked to the break room, Leanne raised her eyebrow at Jesse in a silent question.

“He and Campbell were running into trouble in their surgery, no sense in making it worse, nurse figured they would be another half hour at least, I’ll call back up in a bit.” Jesse said as he took a yogurt from the fridge. Leanne raised an eyebrow at him again, with a little smirk. “What?” said Jesse, “got to keep this figure” he joked, motioning up and down his body. Leanne snorted out a laugh, shaking her head.

******

A short time late, Leanne headed over to sides where Christa had been brought to after the CT. Mike was there with Angus, looking over the red folder with her results.  Mike passed the folder to Leanne, “looks good, no bleeds, slight concussion, neurology already took a look.  She should wake up soon.” At that, Christa, who had been lying peacefully in the bed, shifted slightly and scrunched her brow, struggling to open her eyes against the light. Mike hurried to her side and spoke lightly to her, “Hey Christa glad to have you back, do you know where you are?” Christa groaned, “I’m guessing not in my car anymore” she rasped out.  Mike chuckled, and checked her pupils with his pen light .  “Good pupillary response, you’ve got a few bumps and bruises, slight concussion, but other than that, you should be okay.  We’re going to keep you here for the night – mostly because I’m sure-“, but Mike was cut off by Neal rushing up, followed by Jesse.

“Christa!” he said urgently, his eyes wide and looking around franticly. He made his way to the head of her bed, relaxing visibly when he saw that she was awake. He immediately pulled his penlight out of his scrubs pocket and started checking her eyes, Christa batted his hand away. “I’m fine”, she said softly, “Mike and Angus have taken good care of me.” Mike smirked and continued, as he handed the red folder over to Neal to look at, “as I was saying, we’re going to keep you overnight, just to be sure, and because I’m sure Dr. Hudson isn’t going to let you out of his sight.” At that statement, Neal looked up at Mike startled, and Christa started at him with wide eyes. Angus, confused, shifted his eyes between Neal, his brother and Leanne, who looked like she was struggling to hold back a smile. His eyes widened in understanding, and he raised his eyebrows in Christa’s direction, she avoided his questioning look, instead turning her attention to Mike.

“What about the driver of the other car?” She asked. ”I think he had a collapsed lung –“ Leanne cut her off with a gesture of her hand and a smile. “He’s fine Christa – you did good.” Neal had passed the folder to Angus and shifted to sit on the side of her bed, and grasped her left hand, running his thumb over her knuckles, as was his habit to do whenever he held her hand. “What happened?” He questioned, looking between Christa and Mike.

“I was on my way here, late ‘cause I had that appointment”, she looked to Neal who nodded to her to continue. “Some jerk ran the light and t-boned the car in front of me. The car spun and it hit my car, I think I hit my head off the steering wheel.” She reached up to touch the spot where a bump and bruise had formed. “I got out of my car and went to help the other guy. Someone else helped me stabilize him, the paramedics came – and that’s all I remember.” She looked at her hands and noticed the little scrapes on her hands and arms from the broken glass. Neal brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it, clasped between both of his. “I’m so glad you are okay” he said staring deeply into Christa’s eyes. She tilted her head to the side slightly and gave him a small smile, “me too.” She agreed. Neal looked around at the people surrounding her and back to Christa. All he wanted to do was kiss her, hold her, and reassure himself despite being able to see that she was okay, that she really was. “Oh what the bloody hell, “ he said under his breath, and leaned over, cupping her cheek with his left hand and capturing Christa’s lips in a deep kiss, pouring all of his feelings into that one kiss. She gripped his wrist, holding him close. He was still reeling from how scared he had been, and how his heat had clenched when Jesse had told him Christa was down in the ER hurt. He hadn’t stopped to ask Jesse how he had known to get him – Mama knows everything that happened in his house.

He broke their kiss and pulled away, touching his forehead to hers before sitting back. He looked up and saw Mike staring at them with a gleeful grin, and Leanne giving him a knowing look as she turned and walked away. Angus stared in shock, Mike turned and clapped him on the shoulder, “let’s give these two some privacy.” Angus pulled the curtains closed, and gave Christa a thumbs up behind Neal’s back. She rolled her eyes at him as he backed out of the cubicle.

Christa and Neal stared at each other for a few moments. “So, I guess we just outed ourselves” said Christa with a smile. Neal smiled back. “I’m sorry Darling, I couldn’t help myself. I hope you don’t mind, I don’t want to make things more difficult for you.” Christa smiled from ear to ear, “It’s good, I don’t like keeping secrets anyway. So can you come closer and kiss me again?” Neal smiled and moved up closer leaning down to kiss her softly “I was so worried “he whispered against her lips, kissing her again lightly. She reached up to stroke his cheek “I’m sorry” she whispered back. The continued to kiss, until they pulled away when they heard a quiet “knock, knock”, the curtains rustle and Malaya came into the space.

“Hey”, she said “I’m here to check vitals, and for some girl talk” she glanced pointedly at Christa and smiled at Neal. He stood up and with a squeeze to Christa’s hand, let go, “That’s my cue to leave.  I have surgery scheduled at half past. I’ll be by later.”  He smiled at Malaya as he left, turning back for a final look at Christa, ‘bye’ he mouthed. “Bye” Christa said, grinning as he left.

Malaya swung around, “So I heard an interesting rumor!” Christa let out a laugh. “I’m sure you did! I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys sooner, Neal’s so private, and we didn’t want to cause any awkwardness around here.”

“Trust me, I get it.” Malaya said, nodding knowingly from experience. “I’m happy for you, I’ve been rooting for you two since like our first month of residency.” Christa blushed, “Really?”

“Mm hmm”, Malaya murmured as she jotted Christa’s vitals down on her chart. She snapped the book closed, and sat on the edge of the bed that Neal had just vacated. “Seriously, you guys are always looking at each other, and you don’t even realize it.”

Christa took a deep breath and let out a sigh. “Can I ask you something?”

Malaya smiled, “of course.” Christa dropped her voice to a whisper. “Do you know much about Neal and Grace and their history? I know they used to date and then she took off to Haiti. But he doesn’t say much more than that.”

“I didn’t really know her.” Malaya said. “By the time I did my ER rotation, she had already left. He was definitely sad, I remember, but I can tell you, the Neal I know now is nothing like the Neal I met during my rotation. You can tell how happy he is now.” Christa smiled at Malaya.  “Thanks for that.”

Malaya’s brow furrowed. “Are you worried” she asked quietly. Christa tilted her head and made a bit of a face. “No, I believe Neal when he said that she is firmly in his past.  But I won’t deny that it is a little difficult to work with her and see them together here.  I’m trying not to worry.” She let out a huff of air and settled back on the bed.  “I’m think I’m falling hard”. She brought her hand up to cover her mouth, like she was surprised that the words came out. Malaya put a hand on her leg and patted gently, smiling all the while.  “I’m glad, I think you are both perfect for each other. I have a good feeling, it will all be ok.”

Malaya and Christa were chatting when Mario and Angus pulled back the curtain, bearing gifts in the form of a smoothie and some food from the cafeteria. “Oh, I could kiss you!” Christa joked when Mario handed her the smoothie. 

Mario smirked “ You’d better not, wouldn’t want Dr. Hudson to get mad at me – Ow!” he exclaimed as Angus punched him in the arm. Christa made a face at Mario as she sipped on her smoothie.

“Ready to go for a ride?” Angus commented as he and Mario flipped the breaks on the bed. “We’re taking you over to one of the exam rooms down the hall for the night – you’ll have a better chance of getting some rest there.” The residents wheeled her down the hall and got her all settled in.  Jesse popped his head in the door of the room, “Hate to break up the party, but we’ve got boating accident incoming, all hands on deck – except you Dr. Lorenson – get some rest!” Everyone filed out of the room, promising to come back later, leaving Christa alone for the first time in hours.  She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, falling asleep with a smile on her face, thinking about Neal.

****

Christa awoke to the sound of someone in her room, she opened her eyes to see Dr. Adams making notations in her chart off to the side. “Hi,” Grace said, smiling warmly at Christa. “How are you feeling?”

Christa used her arms to push herself up to sit, “okay – a bit of a headache, but otherwise ok.”

“Glad to hear it.”. The women looked at each other for a few beats, Christa smiling , waiting for Grace to say something, as she seemed to want to. “Okay then, I’ll let you get back to resting, check on you later.”

“thanks” Christa said, puzzled, as Grace exited the room, the door clicking quietly as it closed behind her. Christa wondered what the doctor had wanted to say. That was a rather awkward exchange, but Christa shook her head, eliciting a dull ache and groaned. She picked up her phone off the side table to check the time. 12:35 am.  Wow, she thought to herself, she had slept for a long time. At that moment, the door opened, and Neal peeked is head in. Christa looked up and brightened instantly.

“Hey!” she exclaimed happily.

“Hi yourself”, he replied and walked into the room. “How are you feeling?” He picked up the red chart folder and perused her stats. “Fine – just a headache, and tired.”

Neal came over to her and kissed her lightly on the lips, “ I can leave you to rest if you rather.”

“Don’t you go anywhere!” Christa replied. She patted the space beside her on the bed. “Wanna come to bed with me?” she asked, giving him her best puppy dog eyes.  Neal laughed, “you know I can’t resist you,” and he climbed up onto the bed beside her, settling in with we back to his front, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close.  Christa sighed happily, “this is so much better.”

Neal stroked his fingers against her arm as he held her, reveling in this quiet moment they had, feeling her against him, smelling her hair, he relaxed, almost forgetting they were in a hospital room. He broke the silence as he murmured “you know I’m crazy about you don’t you?” She could feel Christa’s hand squeeze his arm where she held onto him. “I’m glad to hear it” she whispered back, “I’m crazy about you too.” Neal nuzzled her neck, pressing a kiss to the skin exposed there.

“You know,” he started. “I was attracted to you from nearly the first moment I met you. I believe you told me that gangrenous toes were your jam.” He could feel Christa laugh quietly in his arms. “But that day of the quarantine, when my mum was sick, that was the day I knew.”

“Knew what?” Christa asked with a yawn.

“Knew that you might just be it for me.” Christa shifted and flipped to her other side to face him. He stroked a flinger down her cheek and kissed her passionately. “I hadn’t even kissed you yet, or held you, but for some reason it was all I wanted to do.” He looked deep into her eyes, and in a low voice, all but whispered , “I love you Christa.” Christa’s eyes widened and tears of happiness wet her eyes.

She whispered back “Oh Neal, I love you too.” They laid there face to face, kissing and whispering until they eventually fell asleep with their foreheads touching and Christa enveloped in Neal’s arms.

This is how Grace found them when she came to check on Christa. She stood in the door way, staring at the peacefully sleeping couple with a wistful expression on her face. Instead of waking them, she decided to leave and send someone back later. With a sigh, she let the door shut, and walked down the hall, with a small smile, surprising even herself. She was glad that Neal was happy.

****

Jesse came back a while later to check on Christa, smiling at the scene in front of him. Mama liked to see the kids happy. Neal opened his eyes at the sound of Jesse moving about the room, and caught his eye.

“Shes’s good” Neal said quietly, “I checked her stats an hour ago”. Jesse smiled , “It’s quiet out there, I’ll come get you if it gets crazy. You take care of our girl.  I’m glad you found your way to each other” Jesse left the room with a knowing smile and nod for Neal. 

“Me too.” Neal whispered to the room, kissed Christa’s hair and settled back to enjoy the quiet with his love.

 

 


End file.
